


Soulmates? Forever.

by SleepyWriter120



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: BDSM, Bondage, Dominance, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hermione Granger-centric, Lingerie, Love, Non-Sexual Submission, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sensation Play, Sensory Deprivation, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Submission
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:15:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24809128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyWriter120/pseuds/SleepyWriter120
Summary: Friends. If they were asked to describe their relationship in one word, they would pick friends. Lovers. Soulmates. Deeply damaged people who had somehow found redemption in each other. They were all of that, and much more. But they had always been, and always would be Friends.Post-War. No bashing. Harmony.Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor am I aiming to profit off of this story. This is simply a tribute to one of my favourite ships in one of my favourite fandoms!
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 154





	1. New Beginnings

**NEW BEGINNINGS**

**Bedroom, Grimauld Place:**

_Just a friend? She had never been just a friend. He loved her. He knew he did. That was the only thing in his life that he was sure about._

_Mudblood! Filth!_

_Ron..._

_Bellatrix..._

_Him... A flash of green light._

"No!" Harry exclaimed bolting upright. A groan emanating from the mass of bushy hair struggling to get out of his arms brought him back to reality and the man loosened his grip, letting the girl in his arms move from the awkward position she had been trapped in. Nightmare. Well... nightmares. It always started on the night they kissed and quickly morphed into a hit reel of the worst moments in his life. Perhaps he needed to give in and see that muggle psychiatrist that Hermione went to. At least when she stayed over, he didn't scream while asleep. Thank Merlin for small mercies.

"You know Harry, when I said I wanted to experiment with breath play, this is not what I had in mind. " Hermione murmured coughing, amber eyes blinking sleepily as she leant forward, placing a kiss to his cheek. "I don't mind being trapped in your arms Mr. Potter, but breathing is important... even when you're asleep. " She murmured with smile, pulling her boyfriend down to her chest, gently pushing her fingers through his hair. Messy as ever. Some things truly never changed. "Nightmare? Same one? I'm here Harry. I'm right here. Can't you hear me?" She asked softly, shifting so he could hear her heartbeat. "I'm real Harry. The nightmare isn't. I'm real." She murmured, gently pulling the boy back down to the bed and climbing on top of him, legs moving to either side of his waist as she straddled him. Her weight was comforting. She had discovered it was the quickest way to bring him back to reality.

"Mione?" Harry whispered, the wild look of desperation in his eyes subsiding as he groaned softly, "You're sore. You need rest. I'll be okay." He whispered, gently pulling the girl down into his chest, "Yeah. Same nightmare. I really thought I was past this." He whispered, sighing as the girl slipped off his body, only to cuddle into his side.

"Sir..." She whispered, reaching out to cup his cheek, turning his face towards her.

 _She was extremely worried,_ Harry realized, shooting the girl a tired smile. That was a title she rarely used, and never outside the bedroom. Only during their most intimate moments, when he had stripped her down to her most vulnerable self, to the scared little girl who had to give up her own parents, the girl who had been mocked her entire life for her intellect, the girl with whom he had finally found happiness...

"Don't worry Mione. I promise to take the first appointment that your muggle doctor gives me. I just don't know how to... talk to him about Voldemort and torture and that night in the mansion." He whispered, hands pushing underneath her shirt, his cold clammy palm making contact with her feverish skin. Warm. Real. Beautiful.

"He's a squib. Very disconnected from the magical world, but I promise you... he'll understand. And help." Hermione murmured, leaning to place a kiss to the corner of his lips, "Now, unless you want a sore and very cranky princess tomorrow, you better put me to bed."

Purpose. Taking care of her gave him purpose, the girl realized as he laughed, pulling the blanket back over them. His entire life had been engineered towards a single goal. Defeat Lord Voldemort. Now that it was done, he had no idea what to do with his life anymore. So he took care of her. He cooked, he cleaned, he remodeled his house. Purpose and a sense of control. Two things that had always been lacking in his life. They were made for each other, she thought wryly, resting her head back on his chest, his heartbeat bringing a sense of security that few other things in the world did for her. The boy who craved control in his life, and the girl who couldn't spend more than a minute without searching for the next authority figure in her life. And to think it all started with a kiss. A kiss and a flock of birds...

* * *

**Empty Classroom: (6th Year)**

"Birds, huh?" Harry asked, gently closing the door behind him, marvelling at the quality of the girl's spell work. Even as upset as she was, it was perfect, the flock of yellow canaries chittering around her head in perfect unison.

"Y-yeah. Just... felt like practising. Party over?" She hiccupped, furiously wiping away her tears. Harry couldn't see her like this. She wouldn't allow him to see her like this. A hormonal teenager, pining away after a boy. A boy who was currently shoving his stupid tongue down the throat of a girl she could never compete with. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Got too noisy for me. I'm guessing you saw what I saw?" Harry asked, pushing himself on top of the bench the girl was occupying. Stupid Ron. Which boy in their right mind would choose Lavender Brown over Hermione Granger?

"Not that difficult to miss Harry. He looked like he was eating her face. In the middle of the common room." She muttered bitterly, twirling the birds around the two, before allowing them to return to flying aimlessly.

"Yeah. Ron needs to work on his kissing..." He mumbled, unsure how to react to the girl's words. Yes. His best friend needed to work on his kissing, but with his other best friend! Not Lavender Brown. "At least she wasn't crying..."

"You do realize you aren't a bad kisser Harry." Hermione hiccupped, trying to stifle a giggle as she turned towards him with a watery smile, "Cho just..."

"Yeah. I know."

"You don't have to stay. I just... To be rejected by the boy you thought you liked for the very girl who takes every opportunity to call you an unattractive know-it-all..."

"It's attractive. Um. Your intelligence." Harry murmured, before he could stop himself. Where was he going with this? He was just trying to make his best friend feel better, right? That was all. Yep. That was all. She was his best friend. He was, and had never been attracted to her. No sir. Absolutely not. "I mean. I'd rather listen to you talk about SPEW than have to tolerate Lavender giggling at the latest issue of Witch Weekly. Your intelligence is attractive to me." He murmured, his eyes widening as the implications of what he had just said dawned on him. Attractive to him. **_TO HIM?!_**

"Hermione I-" He continued, desperate to fix this before he irreparably broke their friendship. Ronald. She liked Ronald. And he... liked her. If his life wasn't complicated enough this year, now he felt as if he were well and truly fucked.

"Like me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She was upset, not a moron. The girl could see where he was going with this, even though Harry was taking painfully long to get there. The _Boy-Who-Lived_ liked her _?_ She had never been able to separate the legend from the person. The friend from the authority figure that most books portrayed him as. So, she just pretended that she wasn't attracted to the goofball that she pretended was just her best friend. Nothing more. She never had a crush on her best friend. No ma'am. So, she shifted her attention to the next boy she thought she had even the barest of chances with. Someone she liked, and thought she could grow to love. "Harry, I don't need your pity."

Now or never boy, his mind screamed at him, pushing, prodding, basically dragging his body towards the girl.

 _Ronald Weasley. You better be damned sure you're making the right choice,_ the boy thought gulping as he closed the distance between the two. _For I'm about to cross a line here, and I doubt there'll be any coming back if you regret the choice you've just made._

"Not pity. I mean it. I dunno. I just... I can't explain it Mione. I like you... I've always liked you. Somewhere down the line, I convinced myself and everyone that we were just friends, and that attraction was simply what friends feel for each other." Harry murmured, pausing inches away from her face, vivid green eyes locked with warm amber ones.

"Funny... That's how I'd explain my feelings towards you Harry Potter." Hermione murmured, shooting the boy a bitter smile, "If you're going to kiss me, you better do it before you lose your balance."

"I don't want us to snog just yet... I want this to be right..."

"Then let us make it right..." Hermione whispered, gently brushing her lips against his, before she pulled away, smiling nervously at him. Her first kiss. Her first kiss with her first crush.

"Are you sure I'm not horrible? Maybe I have garlic breath and I don't know it." Harry teased as the girl shifted, resting her head on his shoulder, "Every girl I kiss seems to cry." He continued as the girl let out a shaky laugh, simply swatting the boy with her hand.

He said nothing more after that, simply allowing the girl to nuzzle into him as the two looked at the birds fly around them. After nearly five years together, no words were needed. They would figure out their new dynamic come morning. For now, the two simply enjoyed each other's company. Their lives, their relationship and even their own selves would drastically change over the next two years, but for now, they only existed in their perfect little world, and Harry would not have it any other way.

They were friends, they said. Well, that was still the truth, wasn't it?

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hi! Hope you liked this Fanfiction. Like I said, I don't own anything except the love I have for this Community. Please leave reviews on the parts that you loved, and the parts you didn't!**

**As you might have guessed, this is an AU, and is Erotica.**

**I also write Original Stories, and if you like Complicated Love Stories, you'll definitely love my works! Please, please, give them a read! See you!**


	2. Where's the Damn Arse Pillow?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No specific warnings for this chapter. Just some more Harmony fluff!
> 
> Thank you for the Kudos everyone. I'm so touched!

**Grimauld Place, 9:00 AM:**

As far as nights went, it wasn't the worst he had had, Harry decided, gently shifting so as to make sure that he didn't wake the brunette snoring in his arms. Their session the evening before certainly hadn't been one of their gentler ones, considering they had been experimenting with a wooden ruler and the various places it could be applied on a submissive's body. The more the boy thought about it, the more he realized that he had to do something about his night terrors. He didn't have the heart to make Hermione sleep in a separate bedroom, and he couldn't keep her awake at nights like he had the night previous. She had a job, he didn't. He spent his days working on some tiny project or another around the house, while she spent hers taking care of exploited magical creatures. Out of the two of them, she was the one who needed a good night's sleep, and he was utterly failing in his duty as a dominant to fulfil her needs.

"Feeling guilty about keeping me awake at night?" Hermione whispered sleepily, giggling as the man's eyes widened in surprise.

"I- Did I wake you?" he murmured, gently disentangling himself from the girl, rolling over, before groaning as his feet hit the cold floor.

"You are much more disruptive when you're shifting around guiltily Harry." Hermione murmured, clamping a hand to her mouth as she yawned. "But it's okay, I'm already running late for work." She continued, unable to help the slightest bit of disappointment creeping into her voice. No soak for her, then, she thought, as she reluctantly pushed the blanket away from her body. She would simply have to break out the old arse pillow. It had been months since she had felt the need to use it, the pillow lying neglected in her desk at work since Harry had gotten a sense for her pain tolerance, and an idea about the amount the girl could take before the punishment rendered her non-functional the next day.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, getting to his feet and turning to the nightstand, grabbing his spectacles and jamming them on top of his nose.

"We've been in some sort of relationship for near nearly three years Harry. Friends for another six. I'd be disappointed if I couldn't read my dominant like a book." She murmured, clambering over the mess of blankets and pillows to press a kiss to his bare back.

"You sure about that?" Harry asked, grinning as he looped the worn-out pink fluffy cuff around the slender wrist of the hand she had on the bedpost, before looping the other one around the bedpost itself, quickly locking the cuffs. It was the oldest toy that they had in their chest of naughtiness (Harry could swear Luna's names got weirder by the day, but that particular name had stuck, and the two had gotten used to calling it their chest of naughtiness). They hadn't even bought it; it had been part of one of Hermione's Halloween costumes, having dressed up as a police officer one year and the couple had simply repurposed it.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, turning towards her hand with a frown, before turning her gaze back towards Harry. "Harry! As much as I would like to spend the morning with you in bed, I'm late for work." She whined, the cuffs serving as an immediate catalyst to push her into subspace, even as the girl fought it. She couldn't skip work and spend the morning with her dominant, even though a small irrational part of her brain really wanted to immediately submit. She had to be an adult. She couldn't miss work... She had finally secured a meeting with the Goblins to discuss the condition of dragons in Gringotts! "I can't skip work sir. Can you please let me go? Pretty please?" She whispered, adopting her little voice as her eyes widened, the girl batting her eyelashes as innocently as she could. _Aha! You're not the only one with tricks Mr. Potter._

Puppy eyes. The girl wasn't messing around, Harry realized, resisting the urge to let her go with a kiss to her head and a pat on her bum. "I'm not making you skip work Miss Granger. The world won't end if you go in an hour late." Harry said sternly, pushing the girl back down on the bed. "I want you to rest while I get us breakfast and draw you a bath." He murmured, padding over to the couch and picking up the shirt he had discarded the previous night.

"Haaaarryy! I have goblins coming over. Do you know how hard it is to get goblins to come to the Ministry?" Hermione groaned, throwing her head back down on the pillows in frustration. The meeting was after lunch, but she had to prepare. Everything needed to be perfect! She didn't need rest! There were dragons that needed saving, and nobody else in the Ministry cared about it enough to harangue the Goblins like she would. Harry was being very infuriating, the girl decided, and was definitely abusing his authority. "You're acting like an ass." She muttered grumpily, crossing her free arm over her chest to signal her annoyance at the whole situation, before her eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. _Oh no. OH NO._

"What was that Miss Granger?" Harry asked softly, his voice low and measured. The man had paused at the entrance of their bedroom, a foot already outside the door, before he turned towards the girl, eyebrows raised.

The Dom voice. He had used the Dom voice. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._ The man never raised his voice with her. Never had he shouted, nor spoken in anger. His voice simply went an octave lower, the tone assuming an air of command. It never failed to send a shiver down her spine... and aroused her more than any other physical attribute of her boyfriend.

"I didn't break the rules... I didn't cuss at you... Well... Not technically?" She offered meekly, knowing the defence wouldn't work. She wasn't allowed to cuss, period. "I didn't call you an ass. I said you were _acting_ like one." She mumbled, using her messy curls to hide her face.

"It shall be twenty with the ruler after you get home from work Miss Granger. I'll administer them before we leave for Luna's for dinner." Harry murmured, raising a finger to silence the girl before she could open her mouth to argue. "I could stand here arguing with you, or I can get us breakfast so you can leave for work as soon as possible." He murmured, raising an eyebrow as the girl nodded in resignation. _Damn. Now I'll really need to get the arse pillow,_ she thought, sighing as she flopped back onto the pillows in frustration.

* * *

**Grimauld Place, 6:00 PM:**

Bloody Goblins. Bloody, stupid Goblins. Bloody, stupid heartless Goblins. _I wonder how they'd feel about being blinded and shackled in a dank, smelly cavern_ , she thought savagely, dumping her briefcase on the kitchen table, coming face to face with a highly surprised Harry.

"I take it the meeting didn't go well?" Harry murmured, wiping his hands clean on his 'Kiss the Cook' apron, slowly walking towards the girl, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Said there were genuine security reasons requiring them to keep dragons. Asked me to talk to the families with high security vaults and get them to sign off on the proposal to free the creatures." Hermione mumbled, melting into her boyfriend's arms, "Fat chance they sign off on a proposal granting a creature it's due rights. Stupid goblins. Very smugly pointed out that Ministry law did not apply to goblin lands."

"They're just bitter because we broke into their bank, trashed the place and stole a dragon." He whispered, gently rubbing the girl's back. "We'll get them around. YOU will get them around. I believe in you."

"Really? It's just so hard Harry..." She whispered, tears springing to her eyes. What had they fought for? What had their friends sacrificed their lives for? For things to go back to how they were? To return to the Status Quo? They were fighting for a better world, or at least that was what she had believed, until six months at the Ministry had slowly stripped all hope from the girl. Nothing had changed.

"I know little one... But if it was easy, Kingsley wouldn't have given you the job, would he? Hermione Granger, the girl who does the impossible every day." Harry murmured, gently peppering her face with kisses, till the girl giggled, pushing his face away.

"You are far too good for my ego Harry James Potter." Hermione murmured, gently latching her lips onto his, her tongue begging for entry. She would tackle the dragon problem later, with a fresh mind. Right now, she needed Harry.

"Mhm... I..." Harry murmured, groaning softly as their tongues duelled for dominance, his arms tightening around the girl. "I love you Hermione Jean Granger." He gasped, pulling away for air as the girl gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Sir? Can you punish me? I'd like to get it over with, and I don't want to be late for Luna's dinner party." She whispered, nuzzling into Harry's chest, trying to shut out the world. Being an adult could wait. Hermione wanted... No, she needed her Dominant.

"Of course." Harry said, taking her hand and calmly leading her out of the kitchen.

"I liked it better when life was uncomplicated..." Hermione murmured in a small voice, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to make a reapperance. Anxiety coiled in her stomach, and all the girl wanted to do was curl up in Harry's lap while he read to her. Everything set her on the edge after her experience in Malfoy Manor...

"I think our life was never uncomplicated love. You saved me from killer plants and deadly potions when we were 11." Harry smiled, leading the girl up the stairs to their bedroom.

"You saved me from a troll Harry." She shot back, smiling despite her mood.

"Pure bravado. Plus, Ron helped." Harry murmured, gently bending the girl over the armchair, pulling her arms behind her back.

"Pure stupidity. You charged a troll Harry. Head-on, without a plan. Very attractive." Hermione mumbled, her eyes fluttering shut as she buried her face in the felt, waiting for him to come back.

"My stupidity was attractive? Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" Harry asked with a smile, picking up the cuffs from their place on the nightstand, before pulling open the bottom drawer to retrieve the wooden ruler, and padding back towards the girl. They truly did keep the strangest assortment of items in their drawers.

"No. That you would put yourself in danger without any pause for me. What girl could ask for more? My knight in shining armour." She teased, groaning as the man pulled her arms behind her back, "I really should have given those cuffs away along with the rest of my childhood toys." She muttered, testing the locks. Firm as ever. She _really_ should have brought the arse pillow home.

"For every sentence you utter after this Miss Granger, I add one to the total count. Speak at your peril." Harry ordered, gently rubbing her rump. Merlin, she was beautiful.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Yes, I'm a tease. No, I don't regret it.**

**You know what comes next, so leave a review and wait for it! (You might want to bring an arse pillow ~ Hermione)**


	3. Of Nargles and Snargles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Specific Warning: Spanking, Bondage.

**Grimauld Place, 6:00 PM:**

Pain.

Pain would cleanse her. That was what Bellatrix had said. It had been so long, and yet it felt like yesterday. The crazed woman carving her hand with that silver knife. The sting, the humiliation, the stench of Greyback hunching over her. The lust in the man's eyes. And then a flash of red, and she was saved by the most unlikely of rescuers. Her two best friends, and Dobby? The house-elf. A house-elf had more compassion and bravery than half the wizarding world. How could they deny elves the most basic of rights? And then his hands were back on her breaking her free from her thoughts, cool palms on her own feverish skin, grounding her to reality. Grimauld Place. Home. She was home. She was home with her dominant, and she was safe.

"Sir?" She asked, her voice small and timid. She knew she was taking a risk with speaking out, but he had warned her not to speak in sentences, hadn't he? It wasn't a full sentence, not really. She could probably skate by unpunished. Especially with what she was about to say next.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Harry asked, carefully pushing her knee-length skirt up to her waist, doing his best not to crinkle or roll it. He knew the girl liked to occasionally store clothes for future use, so as not to increase Kreacher's workload, and he wasn't about to spoil the mood for something as trivial as a crease. He carefully tucked the skirt in its own waistband, gently palming an ass-cheek. A thong. She certainly was feeling cheeky tonight. She had been mortified when he had bought it for her as part of a set on her birthday, and had refused to accept it until he reminded her that he was the only one who'd be seeing her in them.

_Can you imagine me in something this scandalous? Hermione Granger?_

She had told him she wouldn't disobey his orders to wear them, but would never put them on on her own volition. How wrong she'd been...

Why yes Miss Granger, I can certainly see you in something this scandalous, he thought as he wordlessly pulled the panties down her stockinged feet, down her creamy thighs, stopping when her reached her knees. Far enough. She could dress quickly if they ran late and Luna decided to drop in. One could never quite predict that girl's actions. "Yes love?" He asked, picking up the ruler from the arm of the armchair, delivering a sharp swat to her right cheek, watching the flesh jiggle with supreme satisfaction.

"I-" She started, before groaning in surprise. He was in a playful mood. Fuck. Her womanhood was already growing wet at the teasing, and she knew she'd be dripping by the time he was done. And given the mood he was in... "I love you... One!" She squeaked out, knowing he'd call her out if she didn't count.

"I love you too little one." He murmured, gently pushing her legs apart, delivering the next swat straight against her pussy, bruising her puffy lips. "Pretty sure I love you is a sentence Miss Granger. Or am I wrong?"

"I-Two!" Hermione shrieked, her fingers flailing and desperately digging into the soft skin of her back. The urge to reach back and caress her hurt rump was great, but her brain was screaming at her to stop, that her dominant was in the mood to punish any transgression, and covering her ass might certainly count as one. He had never punished her for it before, but he was being a bit of a twat, and she never presumed to predict his actions. He always surprised her.

Harry didn't say a word after that, but he didn't have to. Nothing was needed to be said, for in six short months, they could understand each other through body language, such was the strength of the nature of their relationship. He moved lower, delivering the next smack to her ample thighs, waiting for a moment to allow the girl to count, before shifting to her left cheek. She was soft, supple, like putty under his hands. The soft mewls that escaped the girl's lips with every spank only served to add fuel to his raging erection, and it was only supreme self-control that stopped him from dropping the ruler and taking his princess right there on the couch. She had been a naughty girl, and she needed to be punished. Pleasure... That would come later.

"F-five." Hermione whimpered, her voice breaking as a familiar burn settled into her ass with the fifth swat. He... Sir. Sir, her mind reminded her sternly. He was her dominant, and she needed to address him with respect, even in her head. Sir wasn't holding back, and she hated how deep into subspace she was slipping. All she wanted was his strong arms around her, his hand in her hair, telling her it was okay, that he loved her, that... "SIX." She screamed, the ruler back against her dripping cunt.

"I-I won't cuss again Sir, I promise. Never again..." She sobbed, gasping when she felt his cool palm against her bruised ass, gently kneading the flesh. "I- Seven!" She started, before stopping. She didn't even know what she was begging for. It hurt, it hurt like little else they did, and yet she didn't want him to stop. She was dripping, far more aroused with this than with anything else they did. Was she broken? Why did she crave pain?

"It's okay little one. Just three more. No extra ones tonight." Harry murmured reassuringly, letting the girl cry. It wasn't just the spanking, it was the stress, the tension, everything bad she brought home from the office. It wasn't a punishment, it was therapeutic. A good cry helped get rid of the tension, and he could already see the girl's body go limp. "Can you be a brave little Gryffindor for me?" He asked softly, bringing the wooden ruler flat against her entire ass as the girl nodded.

Eight. Nine! TEN!

Pain. Pain was good. Pain was real. Harry was real. Harry loved her. She was a smart, successful witch, sobbing into a couch because her boyfriend had disciplined her, and she had loved every second of it. Merlin, she was a mess.

She had no energy left, no agency. She simply lay there, waiting for her dominant to get the aloe cream. The last part of their ritual. The best part, a small voice in her head spoke out. Her dominant would take care of her. She had nothing to worry about, not tonight at least.

"Should I floo Luna and let her know we'll be late? I think a warm shower is warranted after a long day, don't you?" Harry asked, dipping his fingers into the salve, smearing a thick layer of it onto her ass. Her skin was now blotched with maroon and purple, and the girl wouldn't be sitting properly for at least a few days. The salve had been one of Luna's inventions. It cooled skin, and dried fast, ensuring that it didn't stain clothes.

"I... I think we can take a shower after we come back? Ron and Lavender are coming over too, and you know how he gets when he's hungry." Hermione requested softly, allowing the man to pull her limp body off the couch, and into his chest. His hands were back around her. Where they belonged, her brain crowed, the girl melting into his chest.

"Ronald is worse than a Hungarian Horntail when he's hungry. Alright. We'll leave in a minute." He murmured, gently rubbing her back, allowing the girl to snuggle into his chest.

"Are you just happy to see me sir, or did you put that ruler in your pocket?" She teased, giggling softly as she pressed kisses into her shoulder. Damn subspace. It made her act decidedly unHermionish.

"Merlin little one. Don't remind me. I'm treating my erection like I would a zit, ignoring it in the hopes that it'll go away." Harry groaned, his strong arms pushing under her, gently lifting her up and settling her down on the couch, her legs hanging over its arm.

"Hey! Ouch..." She squeaked as she was lifted up, her ass screaming her protest as it was pushed against the cushion.

"Sorry. You stay there and rest while I go get dressed for dinner. I don't trust myself around you right now. Like you said, we don't have time to mess around." Harry murmured, sounding almost like a child who had his candy snatched before he could take a single bite. Damn Ronald and his eating habits. The boy seriously needed to stop giving him blue balls. He still hadn't forgiven the redhead for interrupting his first-time trying clamps with Hermione, all because Puddlemere United had won a game. He needed to have a discrete word with Lavender, he thought distractedly, pulling his t-shirt over his head, before pulling on a simple white shirt. The longer they spent snogging, the less time Ron would have acting like a third wheel with him and Hermione. They loved him, and he was fun to hang out with... But... But he was at that point in his life where he'd much rather spend the afternoon fucking his little kitten, rather than watch Quidditch.

"Wear the blue jeans I got you last month. They look good with a white shirt." Hermione called out with a tired voice, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. The girl was splayed out on the couch, watching her dominant with a tired but content smile. She decided against changing clothes. Her work clothes were nice enough for a dinner party; besides, her legs were more akin to jelly than anything solid and that didn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

"Yes ma'am." Harry murmured with a smile, bending over to pull his pyjamas down his legs, stepping free of them before straightening and grabbing the jeans from a coat hanger, quickly pulling them up to his waist.

"Now you're just mocking me Harry..." She murmured, undecided whether she wanted to stay in subspace for the dinner or not. She was quickly pulling free, but one word from her dominant, and she'd be back underwater. "Help?" She asked softly, motioning towards her legs, her knees forced together by her panties.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. You never know with Luna, and she's seen more of your body than I'm comfortable with." He murmured with a laugh, padding over and grabbing her arm, pulling the girl to her feet.

"It hurts." She whined, shooting Harry a pout as the man bent to pull her panties back up cursing Ron and his stomach as he caught a whiff of her arousal. She was dripping, inviting, just waiting for him to fill her up, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"That's the point of a punishment Miss Granger. The next time you feel the urge to cuss, remember your stinging ass." Harry smirked, winking at his girlfriend as he tugged her skirt free from the waistband, allowing it to fall back down, covering her ass. "Ready?"

"You'll need to hold my arm sir. I don't think I can walk." Hermione murmured, giving up after one shaky step, reaching out to grab Harry's arm.

"Of course. It's the Floo, so you need to hold on tight anyways." He murmured, taking her arm and helping her out of the bedroom, slowly leading her back down the stairs towards the living room, and the large ornate fireplace. The walls looked bare and diminutive without any portraits (The girl having finally figured out a way to take them down. He had burned most of them, and had been quite happy to do so.) and the couple made their way to the living room in comfortable silence. He grabbed a pinch of the bright green powder from the bowl on top of the fireplace tossing it into the grate.

The man pulled the girl into his chest, before dragging her into the tall green flames, giving her one last smile as the flames enveloped them. "The Rook!" He shouted, and braced himself as the floor fell under them, dragging them away from their home.

* * *

**The Rook:**

"Oh good. Harry and Hermione are here." Luna murmured serenely, running into the kitchen, watching two of her friends sprawled out on the floor in front of the fireplace, gently brushing soot off their clothes. "Everyone is waiting for you. Were you busy playing with your pet Harry?" She asked, tilting her head confused as the boy rapidly turned several shades of red.

"Uh-Yeah. Um, my pet was being a handful." Harry mumbled, hoping that anyone else listening in thought that he was talking about Hedwig. Only Luna knew about their secret, and they had decided to keep it that way.

"Oh. I hope you knocked the Nargles out of her. That's what causes her to misbehave, you know?" Luna asked completely serious, before shooting the couple a bright smile, "Well, come on! Everyone is waiting and dinner is getting cold!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Yeah, Hedwig is alive. Nobody saw her die, and we're pretending she just flew away, and came back to Harry.**

**In the next episode, we're going to see Ron react with horror at the news that Harry beats his owl, a hilarious dinner and much more. If you liked this, leave a review and stay tuned!**

**Stay safe, and stay home! Read some good Harmony smut. Recommend some good Harmony fics to me too. Lol.**


	4. Dinner and Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute dinner and the return of some old friends!

**The Rook:**

Ronald Weasley was hungry. An empty stomach, and a Weasley did not mix well together, the boy decided, buttering up his third croissant. "Hedwig? Is she okay?" Ron asked, looking up at his best friends, a worried frown on his face. The three had drifted apart with time, but the redhead still cared about the boy who had been his first friend, and near-constant companion since then. He knew what Hedwig meant to Harry. "Don't... Uh... Don't knock the Nargles out of her. I think she's just tired of being cooped up in her cage. Did you let her out?" Ron asked, coughing to hide his smile at the mention of Nargles. Luna truly was odd, but he loved the Ravenclaw because of her oddities, not despite it.

"Yeah. That would be animal cruelty. Don't worry Won-Won, Mione wouldn't ever let Harry do that to Hedwig." Lavender murmured with a small smile, a hand tracing the scar on her cheek, a nervous tic that she had never fully gotten rid of. Things weren't really awkward between the four anymore, not since the Battle of Hogwarts, but she still felt she was intruding in what felt like a sacred bond between the three friends. The feeling made her feel insecure and inadequate, and on particularly petty days the girl was glad that Harry and Hermione had ended up together, despite how disengaged Ron now felt from his friends. Hermione and Harry were happy, and Hermione wasn't interested in Ron anymore. That was all that mattered.

"Oh no. Certain pets need whacks at times. They get infested, and nargles are terrible, terrible creatures. They make the pets cranky, disobedient and otherwise unmanageable. Don't you think so Hermione?" Luna asked, carrying two large platters of salad to the table. "Why are you standing? Lavender was kind enough to help me cook. Sit!" She exclaimed, smiling happily at Hermione, pulling her wand from behind her ear, and pointing at two empty chairs around the table, which sprang to life, dragging themselves away from the table. "The chairs are cushioned. I got them from a bazaar in Turkey while hunt for a Sniggerdumple." She murmured, walking back towards the kitchen, "I'll go get the soup."

"I think it's wrong to whack a pet, no matter how disobedient or naughty they've been. Any pet." Hermione declared as haughtily as she could, shooting Harry a look as her dominant made himself comfortable on a chair, waiting for Hermione to sit. Oh. No choice. In a perfect world she'd spend the night on her stomach, airing out her sore ass, not abusing it further by sitting on what appeared to be a rather hard cushion. The girl was struggling to stay out of subspace, not that her efforts did anything to quell her anxiety after she snarked at Harry. She could see from his smile that he had taken it as a joke, the way it had been intended, but the submissive Hermione was nothing but irrational, and her brain half-expected her to pick her up and take her to an empty room to finish their punishment. She sighed as she collapsed on the chair, her legs suddenly weak. The room was suddenly suffocating, and she was on the verge of zoning out before Harry's hand had found hers, grounding her in reality. He knew what was happening. He was there. The signs of a panic attack were subtle, but considering they both suffered through several of them during the course of a day, they had learnt to read the signs and provide comfort to the other person as best they could.

"You okay Mione? You look uncomfortable." Ron murmured, diverting his attention away from the steaming bowl of soup that Luna had placed in front of him, looking up at the bushy-haired brunette with a frown.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine Ron. Just a tiring day at work. The goblins were a pain to deal with, nothing extraordinary, really." Hermione murmured, giving the redhead a small smile. Bless Ronald. While she often joked about him having the emotional range of a teaspoon, and he could be really insensitive at times, the boy never failed to surprise her. She had expected Harry to pick up on her distress, Ron doing so was a pleasant surprise.

"Pumpkin has healing properties Mione. It'll do you good." Luna murmured placing the bowl in front of her, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she moved to fill a bowl for Harry and herself.

"They still salty about the fact that we broke into their bank, and then broke out on a dragon? That was truly something." Ron chuckled, his eyes glazing over as he reminisced about their old adventures. He was broken out of his memories by Lavender slapping his shoulder, asking him to finish his soup before it went cold.

"He's writing a book about your adventures. Honestly, he spends so much time lost in his memories these days, I keep telling him to buy a pensieve." Lavender murmured, smirking at her boyfriend as a red-faced Ron furiously munched on a carrot.

"I-I don't know if I will. Or even if I should. It won't be a well-written story." He mumbled, burying his face in the bowl of soup, the tips of his ears dark red, a sure sign that the boy was embarrassed.

"You should. I have magical creatures. Harry has Grimauld Place. You should have a hobby that occupies your time Ronald." Hermione murmured softly, sighing as she felt Harry's hand on her thigh. The man was encouraging her, he knew as much as she did that Ron needed it. He needed the adulation, the recognition, the praise. That was one reason why he and Lavender had worked out so well. "Have you thought of a name for your first book?"

"Well... I thought I'd write six books in total. One for each year that we spent in Hogwarts. 'Harry Potter and the Year My Professor was a Two-Faced Bastard' seemed like a fitting title for the first book." He murmured, grinning as the table exploded in laughter, even Luna chiming in with her musical laugh. After nearly five years together, Lavender knew most if not all the adventures the Trio had had throughout their years at Hogwarts, while Luna had been a part of quite a few of them.

"Accurate, mate. But a little long. What about Harry and Friends Investigate a Deadly Maze?" Harry asked with a grin, looking at his other best friend. Merlin, he had missed this. He had missed the boy. "Just a working title, something to use while you finish the book." He murmured, getting to his feet and helping Luna clear the empty bowls from the table, and carrying them back to the kitchen.

"Do you have enough salve at home? Hermione seems uncomfortable." Luna asked, gingerly pulling the glazed ham from the oven with Harry's help, setting it down on the stove. "A hard punishment?"

"Not really. It's just been an emotional day for her." Harry murmured with a sigh, moving to extract plates from the cabinet for all of them. They dined so often at Luna's house that it was now second nature for the boy, and he did it without conscious thought, arranging six plates for Luna to fill with food. An emotional day. Every day seemed to be emotional for the couple, the two heroes of the war still fighting their battles two years after victory.

"Five plates Harry. Neville is out with Hannah, remember?" Luna reminded him with a gentle smile, slicing the ham, sliding the thin slices of the meat into individual plates.

"Right. How's that going for him?" Harry asked with a grin, glad that the sixth member of their little friend circle had finally found love and companionship. He often wondered about Luna, but the consensus between him and Hermione was that the girl was far too unconventional and free-spirited to settle for a normal relationship. The boy stepped away from the plates letting Luna prepare their main course. As good a cook as he was (Years living with the Dursleys had finally borne some fruit), Luna was a goddess in the kitchen, and all of them knew better than to interrupt her while she worked her magic.

"Oh, he's very happy. Neville says Hannah's the nicest girl he's met after me." Luna murmured, passing him a couple of plates of food to carry to the table. "He also told me her lips taste like honey, but I think he didn't mean to share that with me. He gets very excited whenever we talk about Hannah." Luna murmured, handing him two more plates when he walked back into the kitchen, the girl carrying her own plate to the dining table.

The group finished the rest of the dinner in relative silence, the two couples rather engrossed with their partners, while Luna dreamily hummed a tune, simply picking at the food in her plate. The girl barely ate anything, and it had been a regular source of concern for Harry and Hermione.

"That was delicious. You outdo yourself every time Luna." Hermione murmured, reaching out to squeeze Luna's hand, smiling gratefully at her.

"Oh, it was nothing really. I enjoy cooking for my friends." Luna said sincerely, smiling at the group as they got up, carrying their own plates and various other dishes to the sink. Knowing the girl, everyone believed the statement.

"Nightcap Harry?" Ron asked, depositing the last of the dishes in the sink, turning towards the raven-haired boy with an inquisitive look.

"Rain check? I... uhm..."

"He needs to go check up on his pet." Luna murmured, waving her wand and watching the scrubber start to slowly scrub and rinse the dishes.

"Merlin. Hedwig must be really knackered for you to be this concerned." Ron murmured, looking at Harry as the boy turned, spying Hermione waiting by the fireplace hopefully.

"Uh... Yeah. She's in a mood Ron. My pet. I just need to take better care of her. See you later?" He asked distractedly, waving at Lavender after a confused Ron had nodded, rapidly making his way towards Hermione.

"Cuddles?" He asked softly, slowly looping his arm around the tired girl's waist, pulling her closer. He reached out to grab a handful of floo powder, suddenly wishing the two were back in their warm, familiar bed.

"Cuddles." Hermione replied with a firm nod, stepping into the roaring green flames with a sigh. Home, Bed and Harry. Just what she needed to end the long day.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**There. Done. One dinner, successfully delivered on time!**

**Thank You all for your kind reviews. They make me work harder. They really do.**


	5. Hard Nights.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some smut. Another flashback. Yay, character development!

"Ron and Lavender seemed happy." Hermione murmured as she scrubbed her cheeks with a cotton swab, looking at her boyfriend through the mirror. As per his rules (she honestly didn't mind, a set schedule kept her from going haywire), the girl had to change the moment she got home. It was as much a physical task as a mental one, with the woman dropping her work-related stress and worries along with the clothes. Harry had worked on the dresser for months, and he joked the mirror was a portion from Erised, for he saw her in it every night. She still recalled the thick blush that had coated her cheeks the first time he had made the joke. Being someone's greatest desire felt like high praise to the girl indeed.

"Do you think Ron should do it? Write books on our adventures?" She continued, wiping her lips clean with the swab before tossing it into the dustbin. She had applied make-up for the first time at fourteen, for the Yule Ball. The terrible direction the night had taken had ensured she hadn't used it again for two... three years? It had been a traumatic few years for the girl. She was attacked for being smart, and then for being beautiful. At least that was what it had felt like. She knew now that Ron had done what he did out of jealousy, and that the boy could be incredibly petty at times. But to her, at that moment, it made her feel unappreciated and utterly alone. It had wrecked her confidence, and the girl had resisted all attempts by Lavender, Parvati and even Ginny to give her a makeover. She had finally relented to Ginny's badgering the night before her first date with Harry, submitting to her demands and agreeing to use lipstick and mascara, and getting her bushy hair to be slightly manageable. She could still vividly recall Harry's reaction as she had descended the staircase...

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**Gryffindor Girl's Dormitory, 6th Year:**

"I agreed to the make-up, and to you fiddling around with my hair. I did not agree to this!" Hermione said, glaring at the redhead sitting on her bed. The girl was holding up the clothes Ginny had pushed into the bathroom for her.

"What's wrong with those clothes Hermione?" Ginny asked lazily, not lifting her eyes from the Quidditch supplies catalogue, not even to react when her friend grumpily tossed the garments towards her.

"I-I, well-"

"I'm not asking you to step down those stairs wearing underwear Hermione. It's a nice skirt, and a very simple blouse."

"The skirt is too short!"

"No sweetie. It's high-waisted, and ends up just above your knees. So, the boy will see some leg. The scandal." Ginny chuckled, tossing the skirt back at the brunette. "I thought it was us purebloods stuck in the past. Don't worry. The boy seeing your knees and ankles won't cause an uproar." She teased, an impish smile on her face.

"I know, it's just-"

"You're not used to feeling pretty? You don't think you can take it if Harry doesn't notice? Or maybe you think he won't like it." Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She answered, suddenly sounding very small as she moved to sit on the stool in front of the dresser. The girl's words were bringing out all of the insecurities she had successfully buried for nearly two years, and it only served to drive her anxiety through the roof.

"The two of you are acting like you're going on a blind date with someone you've never met before. Ron told me Harry didn't sleep all night. He is worried that you'll suddenly start disliking him because he doesn't have anything to wear except for Dudley's clothes." Ginny tutted climbing onto her feet and padding over to stand behind the girl, starting to push a brush through her hair.

"What?! Of course not! I like Harry because he's Harry, not because of what he wears." Hermione groused, before letting loose a very un-lady-like snort, "Besides, we all know he can afford good clothes. It's smarter not to buy any and let the Dursleys know how much money he has. He's smarter than he lets on."

"I bet. Nothing but the best for Miss Granger huh?" Ginny teased, patting her head after she had managed to corral her hair into a ponytail. "There. Make-up, hair done. Now all you need to do is put on that skirt and you're ready to sweep your date off his feet."

"Please. It's going to be a nice quiet afternoon. He's probably taking me out to Three Broomsticks for butterbeer and a light lunch." Hermione muttered, pulling the skirt up her legs, "Maybe some kissing." She continued, unable to stop the wistful tone in her voice.

"Go get him tiger. And remember, it's perfectly alright for you to snog him senseless." Ginny smirked giving the girl a small shove.

"I'll try." Hermione mumbled, suddenly feeling very small. Could she send Ginny downstairs to tell Harry she wasn't feeling well? No. He deserved better than that. This was a new chapter in their lives, and she was determined to get off on the right foot, despite how scary it all felt.

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**Number 12, Grimauld Place:**

"Penny for your thoughts?" Harry murmured, his arms snaking around her waist, breaking the girl free from her trip down nostalgia lane.

"I would say they're worth at least a galleon Mr. Potter." Hermione replied with a soft smile, leaning back into his broad chest.

"I do declare that they are priceless. Miss Granger" Harry whispered, his lips inches from her ear, hot breath tickling her sensitive skin.

"I was just thinking about our first date." Hermione said, an impish grin, shifting as she felt his hands snake up to her breasts. She had a good idea where their night was going. A very good idea. "But now I'm thinking about St. Mungo's."

"St. Mungo's?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow as his nimble fingers set to work on the buttons of her blouse. Who knew being a seeker would be this handy? _Speaking of seekers..._ "Where did we keep the snitch?"

"This is exactly why I'm thinking about St, Mungo's sir." She shot back playfully, biting her lower lip as he pulled her blouse down her shoulders, revealing the frilly lace of her white bra inch by inch. The lingerie had been a recent development as well. She had never been one for lingerie and had always thought that the pieces bought by Lavender and Parvati on their occasional shopping sprees had been impractical at best and very uncomfortable at worst. Why would a sane person spend that much money on flimsy pieces of lace?

It all changed on her birthday. Harry had bought her a set of ruby red lingerie as a part of his gift to her, and she had worked up the courage to wear it a few nights later, mostly to humour Harry. She had intended to use it for a night of debauchery, before folding it up neatly and storing it in her closet. Her boyfriend would be satiated and it would be back to practical cotton panties for her. Harry had not spoken, but his actions had been high compliment in itself. The man had bent her over every possible flat surface in the house and made love to her till they were both sore and could barely stand. The realization that she had the power to evoke such emotion from the man she loved had been more of a turn on than anything else they did that night, and had immediately changed her mind on the overpriced pieces of lace. It made her feel powerful, it made her feel wanted, and that was worth any amount of money she would have to spend. Deep down, the girl had always wanted to be valued for something other than her brains, to be more than just the smart friend. Everyone called her smart, but Harry thought she was _hot_.

"Oh?" Harry asked, pulling the girl free from her thoughts once more. He decided to play along with her, his eyebrow quirking as he continued to pull the blouse down her body, freeing more and more of her tanned skin.

"If you touch my ass again tonight sir, you'll have to get me a new one from the hospital." She sighed; her eyes fluttering shut as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her breasts.

"I promise you I have no intention of going anywhere near your ass Miss Granger. I have something very different in mind tonight." Harry whispered, pulling the blouse down to her waist. "On your feet little one."

"Yes sir." Hermione answered meekly, groaning internally as she slipped into subspace. She usually loved being a cheeky little bastard around her dominant, bending his rules without breaking them. But then there were nights when she felt so needy that all her brain wanted was for her to be pinned under him and for him to claim her body, psyche and soul. Tonight, was evidently one such night.

She was on her feet within seconds, head bowed as she waited for her next command.

"I remember our first date quite vividly. You walked down those stairs and suddenly I was very glad that I was wearing Dudley's oversized trousers." Harry teased as he bent over, pulling their chest of naughtiness from under the bed, and popping open the lid. He retrieved the black silk blindfold from it, straightening and padding over to the girl.

"You made me feel beautiful. You still do. For the first time in my life a boy liked me for something more than my help with homework." Hermione mumbled, pulling off the blouse and folding it carefully, placing it onto the footstool. She turned to face her dominant with a small smile, her eyes glassy. "You never made me feel like I was just another book to be used and discarded when done."

"I didn't think it was possible, but you've only gotten smarter and more beautiful with every passing day. I love you for everything that you are little one. To me, you can be both beautiful and smart." Harry murmured, gently wrapping the black fabric around her eyes, circling behind the girl to secure the blindfold. "Do you trust me?"

It was a question he asked every night. It was the question to which she had the exact same answer ready for him.

"Forever and always." She replied with every bit of conviction she could muster, her eyes fluttering shut. It didn't matter, the girl was already blindfolded, the room was dark to her. She relaxed, letting her mind slip deeper into subspace, her limp and relaxed body a sign of her complete trust in her dominant. Her ears quivered; every sound amplified. She knew it wouldn't last; her dominant would soon be taking every sense she could use to connect herself to the outside world away from her. It had terrified her the first time they had tried it, and if she was being completely honest, it still did. She was vulnerable, completely vulnerable, and it was only Harry that she trusted to do this to her.

"What is our non-verbal safe word?" Harry asked softly, reaching over to the nightstand for his wand.

The girl raised her right hand without hesitation, rotating her pinkie in the air. Right as usual. Like she had guessed, she would soon be gagged, and quite possibly unable to hear. It just added to the excitement and the girl could feel herself grow damp. Fuck. Harry liked to toy with his prey, and she knew she'd be sopping wet before any part of his body ended up anywhere close to her cunt.

"Such a smart little girl. There hasn't been a lesson that you've ever forgotten, has there?" Harry teased, digging into the chest, finally locating the case that housed their very special gag. "Except one. Miss Granger shouldn't cuss. But I'm sure your stinging ass will act as a good reminder." Harry murmured, grinning as he popped the golden ball into her mouth when she opened it to complain. It was a highly modified snitch, stripped of its wings and charmed to vibrate instead of fly. It fit snugly inside her mouth; her lips stretched around the soft metal. Hermione had come up with an ingenious way to make the ball as soft as rubber, while still retaining the look and texture of a snitch. A symbol of her dominant right by her lips, while ensuring she didn't accidentally chip a tooth if she bit down too hard.

"I love you." Harry whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek, before pressing his wand to her temple. A simple muffliato, and the job was done. A loud buzzing filled her ears, shutting off sounds from the outside world and completing the deprivation of her senses. She was completely at his mercy, and the part of her brain submerged in subspace thought it was the best fucking thing in the entire world. _He loved her. She knew he loved her, so why did it affect her so when he said it out loud?_

She didn't have much time to ruminate however, Harry's hands were back on her breasts, his slender fingers digging into her skin. "Khep ith ohn." Hermione mumbled thickly through her gag, knowing Harry was torn between simply ripping the bra off her body and freeing her pert breasts, or keeping the lingerie on for the time being. If one agreed with Lavender's theory that all men preferred either the ass or the breasts, Hermione knew for sure that her boyfriend was a boob man through and through.

"Sorry love. Another day. For what I have in mind, I need you naked." He whispered, his hands wrapping around to her back, nimble fingers deftly pushing the clasp, unhooking her bra. The straps were pushed down her shoulders within seconds, the bra falling down to the floor by her feet.

_Naked immediately? Why? He didn't plan to do anything with her while the lingerie was still on her body?_

Harry wordlessly set to work on her skirt, unzipping it and pulling down her legs before taking her hand and helping her step out of the pooled fabric. Keeping her hand clasped in his, he led her towards the bed, roughly bending her over the mattress, her ass raised up for him and the rapidly growing damp spot on full display.

_Rough. Oh. He was in a mood. Oh my._

If it was possible for women to have blue balls, Hermione was sure she already had them. She was certain she'd explode if Harry's actions aroused her any further, and the man had barely touched her. The snitch was gently vibrating in her mouth, almost mimicking the twitching of a cock and the girl was rapidly losing sense of her surroundings, her mind unable to formulate any coherent thought. After the stress of the day, this was exactly what she had needed. People always commented that she seemed much calmer than the high-strung days of her school life and she was almost tempted to reply that all she had been missing was a spanking a week.

_I wonder why they consider spanking a punishment. It's catharsis._

She wiggled her bum playfully despite her better judgement, knowing Harry wouldn't be able to resist a swat. Her dominant was apparently preoccupied with other things however, for he didn't appear to notice. The cause was evident moments later when he pushed his vibrating wand between her thighs, the coarse wood providing much needed friction through the thin lace. The girl moaned, her face buried inside the soft woollen blanket, quickly losing the will to move. Would her legs be next? She knew Harry wouldn't bind her hands while she was gagged, but a part of her was curious was it felt like, to be completely bound and gagged and at the mercy of her dominant.

"I'll be back in a minute kitten. Don't move." Harry said, patting her bum, not that the girl could hear what he had said. She just felt the pat, mentally steeling herself for what came next. The girl was completely oblivious to her surroundings, and to the absence of her dominant, simply moaning and drooling into the blanket as both ends of her body were assaulted with vibrations. The snitch in her mouth was extremely gentle, humming along as the girl bit down on it. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out what Harry was going to do next. He had promised not to touch her ass. What then? A leg spreader? A messy blow-job?

_No, not a blow-job. He wouldn't have gagged me. Or blindfolded me, for that matter. I know exactly how much he likes me looking up at him with my big brown eyes, pretending to be his innocent submissive._

It was a full two minutes before the man returned, carrying a small bowl full of ice chips and a canned of whipped cream. He set them down on the nightstand before turning his attention to the girl, still bent over the bed, immobile except for the slight shaking of legs that he knew heralded an imminent orgasm. Not yet love, he thought, pulling the wand free from her thighs. The cry of disappointment was immediate, and the boy smiled, knowing the girl had been aroused since the spanking and was quite obviously craving release.

He pressed the tip of the wand against her lower back, and the girl stiffened, suddenly realizing where he was going with all of this.

_Oh. Fuck._

Her brain didn't have capacity for more thought as Harry murmured a spell, and suddenly her skin was on fire. She could feel the satin of her blindfold, the wool of the blanket and the cold hard floor, every sensation multiplied and heightened. The girl groaned as her dominant turned her over, hoping the man didn't have clamps in his hands. That was what he usually went with, and clamped nipples with that particular spell was a delicious torture she was never ready for.

Harry didn't say anything, there was no point for words. The girl couldn't hear him, and he was playing for an audience of one. He simply grabbed her arm, gently pulling her up on the bed, arranging her arms and legs so she was spread-eagled on the four-poster, laid out for his pleasure.

Every touch set her skin aflame, but the girl simply moaned and complied, surer than ever that clamps were next. She resisted the urge to look up and peek from under her blindfold, lying still as Harry arranged her arms and legs, every inch now bare for his gaze. She could feel her panties sliding down her legs before they were pulled apart, and could only blush as she imagined her beloved looking at the soaked fabric and smirking.

_And he has the audacity to call me a minx._

The girl bucked as Harry used an ice chip to trace the outline of her sole, a strangled moan escaping her parted lips. "Iche?" She asked, panting as the sensation slowly subsided, the spell amplifying the cold to almost unbearable levels.

"Ice." Harry confirmed, not that it mattered to the girl. Her mind had wiped out every rational thought from her consciousness, focusing its entire attention on the cold, wet trail now tracing its way over her other foot.

The girl was absolutely oblivious to the location of Harry's next assault and when the ice chip pressed against the pink areola, the girl gasped, the cold shooting currents through her spine. She arched her back, fighting the urge to pull away from the cold, hoping its intensity would numb her skin.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I'll take the clamps, Merlin, Fuck!_

She had no way of knowing about Harry's actions, of the fact that his lips were inches from her breast. She had no warning before his teeth grazed her stiff, sensitive nipple and the girl moaned as his lips clamped down on her soft skin, the man gently tugging on the pink nub.

"Obh Merlinh." She mumbled, her hands feeling as heavy as lead, the girl struggling to lift them and thread her fingers through the boy's messy black locks. His tongue was now drawing circles around her areola, the rough texture feeling heavenly against her soft skin. She groaned in complaint as he pulled away, her arms weakly waving about in the air, searching for her dominant. The combination of the cold, the pain and the usual haze of subspace had been overwhelmingly arousing for the girl, and she could already feel herself on the threshold of an orgasm, threatening to spill over even as the boy pulled away.

_Please. Merlin, please._

Harry evidently had no intention of letting her off that easy, for the boy retrieved another chip from the bowl, teasingly tracing his way from her calf up to her thigh. He paused inches away from her dripping cunt, before pulling away again, looking at the panting girl. The procedure was soon repeated on the next leg, the girl writhing and mewling, her hands having moved to absentmindedly toy with her stiff nipples.

_Where next? There was only one logical place. Not inside, please not inside._

Harry appeared to be thinking along the same lines as her however, the cube gently and slowly tracing her puffy lips as the girl moaned and bucked her hips, her hand travelling downwards only to be roughly swatted away.

"Pleash." She mumbled through the gag, slightly leaning forward to look at him. Her face was a mess, mascara running down her cheeks and mingling with the drool. She dropped her head back with a sigh as the man's rough, calloused fingers expertly located her clit, the ice cube having been tossed away in favour of direct stimulation. She was undone within seconds, crying into the gag as his fingers elicited the first of what she hoped would be many orgasms that night. 

Harry's fingers pulled away as the girl went limp, her drained and hazy mind trying it's best to ride out the orgasm. Even as the girl was coming down from her high, she could feel a wet cold material oozing onto her nipples. She had no idea what it was, only that it wasn't as cold as ice.

_Harry, what are you doing?_

The petite brunette had no idea what was in store for her, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that a certain Hermione Granger was about to have a very long night...

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**Author's Note:**

**There. Hope you guys liked it! Please be kind in the reviews.**


	6. Love Is In The Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Smut. Quite a bit of fluff. You get a deeper look at their relationship. (Yes, I'm bad at summaries.)

Hermione Granger had decided a long time ago that her boyfriend's best feature were his vivid green eyes. They were gorgeous, expressive and seemed to provide a window straight into his soul. She still maintained his eyes were beautiful, but if asked to choose his best feature now, she'd be hard pressed to pick them over his lips. For they were fire, they were love, they were everything she could have ever wished for.

"Pleash..." She mumbled, a deep-seated need to be loved and cherished being awoken within her as Harry's rough, chapped lips grazed against her skin. In all her years at Hogwarts nobody had expected her to get this type of attention from another student. Was she so broken that she craved the most superficial of validations? Perhaps everyone wanted the things that they never had. Lavender had once told her that she craved to have people looking at her as more than just another pretty blonde, and Hermione... Well, Hermione had days when all she wanted was for Harry to treat her like a pretty princess. Being deprived of sight, hearing and voice was wonderful for meditating on one's thoughts she mused, whimpering as Harry's tongue started to sloppily clean up the cool material he had dumped on her breasts.

This was the most exquisite of tortures and the man was intent on drawing it out till his submissive reached her breaking point. After a year together he could read her body well, but still kept an eye on her hands, knowing he'd need to stop the moment she felt she could take no more. He paused, teeth poised to clamp down on her stiff pink teat when he spied the girl raising her arms, only for her to thread her fingers through his unruly hair desperately pushing him down into her bosom as she mewled. Smirking, Harry set to work, his teeth clamping down on the nipple, the hex he had used on her amplifying the sting and driving all coherent thought from her mind. A shrill scream escaped the girl's lips as her nipple devolved into nothing more than a flash point of red-hot pain and yet when Harry pulled away to look at the girl, he could only see a lazy smile adorning her face.

She was floating, floating away in the sea that was subspace, unburdened by thought or worry. Her hands mindlessly pushed his face down on her other breast. It still needed to be cleaned and she craved the pain, the pleasure and everything else her Harry thought fit to give her. He pulled away to let the girl settle down, knowing her competitive streak had translated itself into the bedroom, and the girl wouldn't ask him to stop. Not until she was past her breaking point and couldn't physically tolerate it anymore, and Harry had no intention of pushing her that far tonight. They really needed a non-verbal way for her to ask him to slow down, he realized as he picked up his wand, reversing the _Muffliato_ with one lazy flick.

"You okay kitten?" Harry asked softly, relieved but not surprised when the girl nodded rapidly. There was a time when he'd spend the entire night overthinking every action of his, unable to believe he'd hurt her like he had. But he knew she wanted it, she wanted him, all of him. The good, the bad and the painful. "Need me to slow down?" He asked, laughing as her cheeks got even redder, the girl shaking her head shyly.

_Hermione Granger was not good at communicating her desires. Harry Potter was very good at reading them._

If he had to guess, she didn't want him to slow down, and she certainly didn't want him to stop, but she wanted him to take his time, to let her savour every sensation... His lips, his teeth and his tongue. And so, he took his time, lazily running his tongue over her other breast, his cock twitching with every whimper and moan. He continued licking even after he had cleaned off all the whipped cream, only pausing as he felt her shake under him, heralding the onset of another earth-shattering orgasm. The second of the night for her, certainly nothing new. That was their usual when they made love, and the man had pushed her up to five the time they had tried overstimulation. She could certainly handle three, especially since he planned to have her sleep in and rest the next day.

"Do you want to cum for me princess?" Harry asked, his smile growing when the flush on her cheeks deepened. She loved it when he called her princess, and he saved it for special occasions. Usually for when she had been particularly good, or for when he was feeling particularly loving.

"Pleash?" She asked softly, ignoring the tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. It wasn't a demand. It was a request, and Hermione was extremely happy with how she sounded. Tonight, she was nothing more than Harry Potter's submissive, and like everything else in her life, she planned to be perfect at that.

"Of course." Harry whispered, his hand caressing her cheek for but a second before it made its way down between her thighs, a lone finger pushing between her slit. "Cum for me. Cum for me my perfect little goddess." He whispered, pumping the finger in and out of her for a minute before he pulled out in favour of rubbing her clit, his teeth clamping down on her other nipple.

_Pain. Pleasure. Pain and pleasure. Through the haziness of it all, Hermione realized he had called her with a pet name he had never used before. His goddess. She was nowhere close to being a goddess, but then she wasn't a slut either. But she was his slut, and with the moment of clarity that came only at the height of pleasure, she realized she could be his goddess as well. She would be his everything._

She moaned softly as the man kept rubbing her clit, letting her ride out her orgasm even as he pulled away from her breasts. Just as well, the small, miniscule part of her that was still capable of rational thought told her. Her nipples felt like they were on fire, and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. If he had continued, she simply would have sucked it up and taken it like a good girl, for she refused to use the safe sign and let Harry stop the session before she got him off. She really needed to talk to him about coming up with a way for her to non-verbally convey the need for him to slow down.

"Galleon for your thoughts?" Harry asked with an amused smile, gently pulling the drool-soaked snitch out of her mouth, returning two out of her three senses to normalcy. Only Hermione Granger could be capable of both enjoying an orgasm and thinking coherently, he thought as he pulled the blindfold away from her eyes.

"If I'm your goddess does that mean you're not going to look at any other girl, ever?" Hermione asked, her voice raspy. She blinked a few times in rapid succession, getting used to the normal light of their bedroom before she looked up at him with big brown eyes, hoping he wouldn't realize what she had been really thinking. She didn't need another lecture on the importance of the safe word and when to use it, not when she could see his cock pushing through his pants, practically begging for her attention. "You know, since that would upset me, and upsetting your patron goddess is never a good idea." She added with a cheeky grin.

"Is that so?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow at the sudden change in her demeanour from submissive to bratty. The new pet name seemed to have awakened something within her, and Harry knew they would end the night in a very different mood than the one they had started with.

"I do declare. Harry James Potter, you will make your goddess very cross if you look at another girl." She said as she pretended to be upset, he hadn't outright accepted her demand, crossing her arms over her chest after he had pulled her up into a sitting position. The movement had the slight complication of making her hands brush against her still stiff nipples, and the girl yelped, dropping her arms to her side and looking up sheepishly as her dominant laughed at her predicament.

"For someone who calls me their goddess, you're very mean to me Harry Potter." She said with a pout, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest as the man lifted her up with ease, setting her down on the floor next to the ottoman before kneeling in front of her.

"I will never ever look at another girl little one. I can't make any guarantees about Ronald though. I definitely think there's a connection there and I should explore it someday." Harry whispered, his eyes twinkling.

_First whipped cream and now banter?_

He truly was in a playful mood, and Hermione realized she was in the mood to give back as good as she got.

If you do that, you'll make your goddess very sad and very lonely. She'll have to find solace in the arms of another lonely soul." She said, continuing quickly before her love took the wrong meaning from her statement. "Perhaps sir, you'd like to come home to your goddess on Lavender's knee." She said sweetly, giving him her biggest, most innocent smile. The cheeky little bastard that was the flip side of her submissive nature had awoken, and she wanted to play.

"I-uh..." Harry mumbled, his cheeks bypassing pink and red and shooting straight to scarlet as images of Hermione and Lavender snogging decided to drive out everything else in his mind. _They did share a dormitory for seven years. Did they? No. She had to be teasing him._

 _"_ You can be a cheeky brat at times, you know?" Harry mumbled after a few seconds of complete silence where he had tried to suppress all sorts of raunchy images popping up and Hermione tried her best not to giggle. That she decided, would be pushing it too far. "I'd punish you for that if it didn't turn me on so goddamned much." He grunted, pushing his lips against hers as if to show her just who she needed to be snogging.

An arm wound around to her back to support the girl as he pressed into her, their lips locked in a fierce kiss, her tongue duelling his for dominance. He liked this nature of hers, although he'd never actually tell her that. Good dominants didn't actively encourage their submissive to be brats, however much it might turn them on. And it turned him on. A lot.

"Was your tongue really what you wanted to shove into my mouth Mr. Potter?" Hermione asked, gasping for breath as she pulled away from their heated kiss, tilting her head back to allow him access to her slender neck and creamy skin. She groaned as his teeth brushed her still sensitive skin, claiming her the way he usually liked to do. The girl at the shop had been very surprised at the amount of foundation Hermione seemed to go through, and she had finally broken down and told her that no, her boyfriend wasn't abusing her, it was quite the opposite. Her boyfriend loved her very much, but she was a lawyer and she couldn't very well go to work covered in hickeys, could she? The girl had simply grinned at her, and now kept a bottle ready the moment she saw Hermione pop into the shop.

"N-not fair." Hermione gasped; her eyes fluttering shut as she struggled to keep her hands by her sides. She was playful, and she liked being playful but she'd never be disobedient. Harry hadn't told her she could move her hands, and until he did, she was supposed to keep them by her side.

"Why is this not fair little one?" Harry asked, chuckling quietly as he licked the rapidly blooming bruise in the crook of her neck.

"I should... I should be marking you. The stupid girls stare at you, not me." She said grumpily, her mind flashing back to their trips to Diagon Alley, Quidditch Games or any possible location that had even a single magical female. At times even muggle women stared, all of them apparently deciding the absence of a ring on his hand meaning he was fair game. It made Hermione feel decidedly violent.

"Then why don't you mark me?" Harry asked as he pulled away from her, his voice calm and expression inscrutable.

"I-I can?" Hermione asked, blinking at him in confusion. Could she? She had never given him a hickey in their six months of experimenting with their new lifestyle. Scratches on his back? Sure. A hickey? Never. Could she? Was this a test? Even if it was, she decided to go right ahead and give him one. He'd understand. It was Harry. He had to understand why she wanted to do this.

"Of course, little one. It goes both ways you know? You are mine, and I am yours. I will never ever look at another woman till the time you'll have me, but if you feel better covering me with hickeys, mark away." Harry said, giving her a fond smile.

"I want to. I don't like it when they stare at you. I know you don't do anything to solicit those stares, let alone encourage them, but I still don't like it." She mumbled, trying to ignore how petty she sounded. Was it petty? Probably. Did she care? Not in the slightest.

"I know. So, come here. Give me a hickey and claim me as yours you cheeky goddess." Harry whispered, pulling her onto his lap. He groaned as she brushed against the bulge in his crotch, eliciting a giggle from the submissive.

"We need to do something about that before it explodes and ruins a perfectly good pair of jeans sir." She whispered as she leaned into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent and trying to commit it to memory.

"In a second. This first." He murmured, his eyes fluttering shut as she placed a gentle kiss to his pulse point, the throbbing increasing under her soft lips.

"I've never given anyone a hickey." She admitted softly, her pride unable to admit what she really thought. _What if she did something wrong? What if he didn't like it?_

"It's okay baby girl. Just do what I do. You'll be okay." Harry murmured, his arms winding around her back partly to support her and partly to prevent her from pulling away from him. She needed this, and he was more than happy to give it to her.

Hermione gave him a small nod; glad her face was hidden in his neck and he couldn't see the worried expression on her face. Even though she had been slowly warming up to the idea of spontaneity, she really didn't do spontaneous. She liked to read, research and practise before she tried anything new, but she didn't want to wait a week to claim him. She wanted it now. So, she wrapped her lips around his warm skin, gently sucking on it. She smirked as the man groaned when she sunk her teeth into his skin, his arms quivering for once. She continued to kiss and suck, her smile only growing with every little sound he made, every twitch of his cock under her helping her realize just how much he was liking it.

She was fighting air, and air was winning. Reluctantly she pulled away to breathe, observing the mark she had left on his tanned skin. If he wore a t-shirt, and he usually did, the mark would be visible to everyone. "You're not allowed to cover it up. You don't have a boss. Meaning you don't have to act all professional and decorous. Thus, you're not allowed to cover it up." She muttered, grinning at him triumphantly as she pushed herself off his lap, pulling her hands behind her back and looking up at him as he stood.

"I'm not?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow as he undid his belt, tossing the leather onto the bed. His jeans were next and the man pulled them and his boxers down to his ankles. He breathed a sigh of relief as his shaft sprung free, unable to stop himself from chuckling as it smacked his submissive's cheek.

"Well, Mr. Potter, if you plan to act in so rude a manner with me, I do think I would like something in return." Hermione whispered, her brown eyes big and innocent as she looked up at him. She wasn't feeling particularly innocent at that very moment, but Harry had spent all night making her very happy. It was only fair to return the favour.

"Rudely?" Harry asked, gently grabbing his shaft and starting to pump, letting it grow to its full size, which admittedly didn't take long. "I don't think I've been very rude."

"My face is a mess. My breasts are a mess. I'm a mess sir. And now you're going to have your submissive wrap her pretty little mouth around your big fat cock as you shove it down her throat. I think that's plenty rude, don't you?" She asked, even as she stuck her tongue out for him, ready to receive his tip as he guided himself closer to her open mouth.

"Would you like me to stop Miss Granger?" Harry asked softly, his tip centimetres from the tip of her tongue.

"I never said I didn't like it when you were rude with me Mr. Potter." Hermione whispered before she opened her mouth for him once more, keeping her eyes trained on his and her arms locked behind her back. He didn't like her using her hands during a blowjob. It was one of the few acts where he liked complete control, with little to no input from her.

She groaned as he pushed inch after inch of his cock into her mouth, reminding herself to relax her muscles and breathe through her nose. Her gag reflex wasn't so bad when she actively reminded herself to relax, but she still hadn't gotten the hang of it. The cheeky voice in her brain reminded her to ask Harry if they could practise more.

"F-fuck." Harry groaned as her lips wrapped around his tip, the warm cavern of her mouth welcoming his shaft without any resistance. He saw the corners of her lips curl up into a smile, and he knew she was enjoying this. She liked to see the effect she had on him, and had encouraged him to let loose on many occasions. Which he did. Often, and despite his best intentions to control himself. "You're a very naughty goddess Miss Granger." Harry whispered, a hand pushing itself through her hair, using her head to push her down on his cock.

If Hermione was in any condition to speak, she'd have reminded him that he liked it when she was naughty. But she wasn't, considering her mouth and tongue were otherwise occupied and the girl could barely breathe, so she was content with looking up at him and enjoying the sight of the control he had so carefully built up crumble in seconds, the man giving into his base urges.

Harry, while mentally completely capable of speech, realized his tongue would not cooperate as his words were lost in a loud groan when the girl suddenly and very enthusiastically started to suck on his cock, swirling her tongue around the shaft as best she could. He gave up, pushing his other hand into her hair before he pushed her down on his shaft further, his hands shaking as he felt her nose bury itself in his crotch.

He was her dominant, yet at that very moment, she held all the power and Hermione loved it. She drooled around his shaft as he pushed the last inch of its length inside her, the girl unable to breathe anymore. The first few times she had tried to deepthroat him, she had panicked at the very real possibility of choking, but as the trust grew, the panic subsided. They learnt her limits, and she knew that while she'd take a risk and push past them on occasion, Harry never would.

She kept her eyes trained on him even as his closed, her mind slipping back into the haze of subspace brought on by oxygen deprivation. No more witty quips or cheeky retorts. Just a desire to make her dominant happy, to give him the same pleasure he had given her.

He pulled her away, pulling out of her throat and most of her mouth, letting her gasp for air for a few seconds before he pushed down again. In and out, in and out. Just enough oxygen to keep her conscious and comfortable, nothing more. She gasped and drooled and sucked, grinning when the man moaned as her teeth grazed against his sensitive skin. He hated it when she did that to his tip, loved it everywhere else. A distinction she had made sure to remember.

"F-fuck. Close... Was aroused since the spanking." Harry mumbled, unable to believe how quickly she had brought him to the edge. He usually had more self-control, but it was rapidly slipping away from him and not even the image of Snape scowling at him could bring it back.

He bunched up her hair in his fists, using them to face-fuck her to the best of his ability. He groaned as he opened his eyes, finding that her warm, brown ones were still locked onto his face, silently encouraging him to cum, to lose that last bit of control he was holding onto and give her his seed. He stubbornly held out for a few more strokes, pulling her away from his cock only to ram it back down her throat, letting the girl drool and gag around his length as she tried to keep sucking.

Ignoring the urge to shut his eyes, he finally gave in as the tension in his stomach became too much to bear, coming inside the girl's mouth with a loud groan. The girl dutifully held still, letting the seed dribbled out of her mouth as she swallowed to the best of her ability. It was messy. Harry liked messy, and so she didn't particularly care. She sighed as he pulled out of her, knowing he liked to finish on her face. Her previous cheeky grinned returned as she felt dollops of the warm liquid splatter on her nose and cheeks, a few ending up into her forehead and hair.

"You owe me a shower Mr. Potter." Hermione murmured, swallowing the last of the cum in her mouth.

"And a glass of water. You okay?" Harry asked softly, looking down at the mess he had made. Her face was a mosaic of tears, remaining make-up and his cum, and yet the girl had a huge cheshire grin on her face that helped allayed the twinge of guilt he had after every session. She had liked it. By the look on her face, she had liked it very much.

"I am sore, my throat is raw and I'm sticky everywhere." Hermione admitted, maintaining her position till he helped her up. Rules. They weren't for just when it was convenient. "But there is nowhere else I'd rather be at this very moment." _I love you._

"And there's no one else I'd rather have sharing this with me than you." Harry murmured, reaching out with a hand and helping her to her feet. _I love you too._


	7. Hot Showers and Cold Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the entire chapter is Hurt/Comfort. My muse was on a roll and wouldn't stop.

"Here. Sorry about the last few seconds there. I got carried away." Harry murmured, pouring his girlfriend a glass of water from the jug they kept on the nightstand on her side of the bed. After a mercifully tiny fall from the stairs and another incident of Kreacher feeling disappointed that he wasn't summoned, Hermione had decided that it was easier to instead have water in their bedroom. It had the added benefit of them not needing to run out of the room to hydrate when they were in 'compromising' positions.

"You don't have to apologise Harry. That is one part of your aftercare routine that I don't much care about." Hermione murmured with a grin; her voice still hoarse. She gratefully accepted the glass of water from the man, plopping down on the bed as she slowly sipped from it. She really wanted to curl up and let her mind escape to dreamland after what had been a truly exhausting day both mentally and physically. She knew if she asked him, he'd let her, but she also knew she would be absolutely miserable about her condition come morning.

"So, I guess I'm going to have a sore throat again. Jemma thinks you and I secretly adopted a baby given how many times I've made the excuse of picking up a bug from somewhere. It's almost reflex now. Every time someone asks me why my voice is hoarse; I can't help myself. I tell them I picked up a bug before I even realize what I'm saying." Hermione murmured, moaning softly as his fingers dug into her shoulders. The man had climbed up on the bed and moved to sit behind her, apparently deciding that the best way to end their night would be a massage for her. Harry as a dominant was even more impulsive and unpredictable than he was as a person, and Hermione secretly loved it.

"Do you have another excuse ready? Maybe you should stand in front of the mirror and practise using it." Harry mused, his hands gently kneading her shoulders, working out the tension in them.

"Do you think 'My boyfriend has a large appendage and he uses it in the most inconsiderate of ways' would work?"

"Appendage?" Harry asked, the amusement in his voice only growing at the choice of her words.

"You know what I mean."

"Not really princess, no. I'm pretty sure I've heard Luna described her hand as an appendage once. They'll all think I'm abusing you."

"I-You told me not to cuss sir." Hermione shot back cheekily, trying not to smile. Cheeky Hermione had apparently awoken, and she truly had the worst timing. "Bad Hermione. Don't screw me out of a good massage." She muttered under her breath in a voice low enough that he wouldn't be able to hear.

"Hmm?"

"I said that I'm not allowed to cuss sir."

"You are describing an anatomical part Miss Granger. That's not cussing." Harry retorted, his thumbs running down her spine. He suppressed a smile as the girl shuddered, moaning softly. Still putty in his hands. He hoped that was one thing about their relationship that never changed.

"I described an anatomical part this morning sir. You still counted that as me cussing." Hermione murmured as she turned her head to look up at him with an angelic smile.

"Oh? Well, context matters princess." Harry said, choosing to kiss her forehead instead of taking the bait. "If it makes you feel any better, you have my permission to cuss for the duration of this conversation."

"Well, since I have _your permission_ sir, I guess I should revise my reply." Hermione said, pausing and making a show of thinking. "I would tell my co-workers that my boyfriend, the one and only Harry Potter has a massive dick and he does not hesitate to ravish me in every possible way with it. Which is why I'm sometimes tired, why I might limp, and yes, why I seem to be hoarse so often. Does that work sir?" Hermione asked innocently, glad that his fingers had not stopped working.

"Maybe you should hand it to your public relations officer and ask him to polish it a little. It sounds a little raw." Harry teased back, pushing her hair to the front so he could work on her upper back. "What was his name? Tommy?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance. He knew exactly what his name was. Tommy Spinelli. A young boy, barely out of Hogwarts with a talent for writing and blind devotion to his boss. Harry suspected the man also had a tiny crush on the one and only Hermione Granger, and he liked to tease his submissive on occasion about it.

"I don't think it would be very appropriate sir."

"It won't?"

"My co-workers are one thing. He's my subordinate. I wouldn't want to sound like I'm abusing my authority or harassing him."

Prim. Proper. The Hermione Granger that the world got to see.

"That isn't what your position used to be in the past. I do remember a certain Miss Granger turning up in Mr. Potter's office last week and working _very hard_ for her promotion."

They loved their roleplays. Kept the romance alive and interesting. His 'office' had been their living room, and admittedly that particular roleplay had gotten a little out of hand. They had nearly broken Kreacher's prized china collection. In his defence, he had never been a patient man and Hermione Granger did look great in stockings, a tie, his spare pair of glasses and nothing else.

"That was different."

"How so?"

"Miss..." Hermione started, her words interrupted by a soft moan as the man's hands snaked under her arms to cup her breasts, the fingers sinking into the soft flesh. "M-Miss Granger deserved that promotion. She just needed to show that to Mr. Potter."

"On that, I can agree with you. Come on, it's getting late and we still need to shower and clean the sheets." Harry murmured, finally pulling away from her and rolling over to the other side of the bed. He hopped of the bed and padded over to the shower, Hermione quickly drinking the last of the water from the glass that she had abandoned, before following the man.

Harry was already in the cubicle by the time the girl walked in, and she gave him a tired smile as she moved to grab a towel from the rack and pushed it into the handle attached to the cubicle's door, before finally squeezing in beside him.

"Exhausted?" Harry asked softly, even though he had a very good idea what her answer would be.

"Very." Hermione admitted quietly. The girl closed her eyes, letting the strong jet of hot water massage her skin, sighing as a large soapy hand started to lather her back with bodywash. "It was just one of those days you know?"

"Yes, it was. Work, then the dinner, and we certainly didn't come home to a quiet night of reading in bed." Harry murmured, scrubbing her skin with a washcloth, methodically washing off all the grime.

"It's not just physically either. I had to be tough Hermione at work, then nice, friendly Hermione at dinner, and finally your good little kitten. The transitions are tough and take a lot from me, mentally speaking." Hermione admitted, turning around to face him, letting the water hit her back.

"Hermione I-"

"Don't apologize Harry. I needed it. All of it." Hermione reassured him as she grabbed the bottle of bodywash from the stand, squirting some on her palm before starting to soap up his broad chest. "It was mentally exhausting, but now I'm going to have a good night's sleep. I'm not worried about my law stuck in Wizengamot, or about the goblins acting like jerks. I am happy. One can find a thing exhausting and love it dearly Harry. Submission has been the hardest challenge of my life, but it has been so incredibly rewarding." She murmured, gently grabbing the washcloth from him. "Turn please?" She asked.

"I know better than to ask you if this is truly what you want, but do you promise to tell me when it's too much? You can use the safe word in non-sexual contexts too you know?" He asked, turning to allow her to scrub his back.

"Be honest and always communicate. That's one of my rules. When have you ever known me to break the rules Harry?"

"When it comes to the safety and happiness of your loved ones? Always. You set a professor on fire for me. You might have screwed up someone's professional quidditch career for Ron. When it comes to the ones you love Hermione Granger you absolutely can and do disregard every rule and boundary set in place." Harry murmured, turning around and studying her, his striking emerald eyes seeming to pierce her very soul.

"You are right." Hermione admitted quietly, not cowering or withdrawing under his gaze. A lesser person might have, but she was Hermione Granger. "But I also know that your true happiness is seeing me happy, and with ensuring that we have a loving and stable relationship. If it means sacrificing your temporary happiness for that, I would do it without hesitation. I will not hesitate to use the safe word, because I know the alternative is our relationship in ruins. You should believe me when I say that Harry James Potter." She continued; her voice soft but fierce.

"I believe you." Harry said simply, and he did. They went out of their way to make sure they were honest with each other, avoiding even the smallest of lies, having decided that the nature of their relationship meant the need for complete honesty with each other. He bent down, grabbing the washcloth on his way, looking up at her with the hint of a smile. "I feel like returning the favour Miss Granger." He murmured as he pushed her legs apart, running the cloth up her thigh as slowly and sensually as he could.

"Normally I'd be all for it Mr. Potter." Hermione murmured, groaning softly as the gentle pressure felt perfect against her sore and overstimulated skin.

"That sentence invariably has a 'but' somewhere."

"But, I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall asleep. "

"Wow. That bad huh?" Harry asked with a chuckle, looking up at her playfully. He had only gone down on her a couple of times, and considering she had been his first, he didn't mind her criticism. Like with all things, he'd practise and learn. If he had a willing partner, that is. "I guess I had to be bad at something. Every boyfriend is, right? The thing that I'm bad at turns out to be going down on my girlfriend." Harry murmured, carefully washing her other thigh, trying not to groan as he caught the barest whiff of her arousal.

"N-no. That's not it." Hermione mumbled, wishing she could duck her face behind her hair as he stood up and looked at her like a questioning look. "It's just that I'm nice and sleepy and in this perfect balance between subspace and normalcy and I don't want it to get weird. Sir." She added lamely, her cheeks flaming.

"Weird? Do you not like it? Pretty sure that's my fault kitten. We could practise and I'll do my damnedest to improve." He murmured, studying her with a curious expression on his face, before he gave up, moving the washcloth across her chest and abdomen to clean up any remaining whipped cream. She didn't say it was bad or not arousing. Weird. What did that even mean? She'd tell him. Like everything else, they discussed their sex life with complete honesty. What they liked, disliked and things they wanted to try in the future were all discussed without fear of judgement by the other person. She even had something akin to a kinky bucket-list, hidden under random scrolls of parchment in their bedroom's vanity.

"I mean, you can definitely improve, don't get me wrong. But it's not that." Hermione answered after pausing for a moment to think about the best way to phrase what she was saying. She gave him a nervous smile as she followed him out of the cubicle after turning off the shower, gratefully allowing him to wrap the fluffy white towel around her body. "Whenever you go down on me, I get hyperaware about everything. Did I shave properly? Do I smell weird? What if you really hate the taste? All sorts of worries, and it gets me into a really weird headspace and I don't want that. Not tonight. I'm feeling happy and fuzzy and relaxed and while I would love for you to return the favour in one way or another sir, the thing I want most right now is just to stay exactly how I currently feel." She mumbled unable to stop the rush of words from escaping from her mouth. Had she even made sense? She had to herself, but she often had conversations with people where the only person who understood anything that had transpired had been herself.

"You're worried about grossing me out?" Harry asked, retrieving another towel from the rack and wrapping it around his waist.

"Well, yes. No. Kind of." Hermione mumbled, sneaking glances at Harry as she mimicked his actions on the free sink, grabbing her toothbrush and dumping a dollop of paste on it. Two sinks, One for her, one for him. The man truly thought of everything, and in a way, she was glad the renovations were occupying his time.

"Then I think we should stop with the blowjobs too. After hearing you, I think I have similar concerns."

Hermione stayed quiet, concentrating on brushing her teeth and only spoke up after she had gargled. "Harry, you think you're being fair, but you're really not."

"I think I'm being completely fair." Harry murmured, turning to her with a questioning look. While he knew this would quickly turn into a disagreement between the two (they rarely had actual fights), that wasn't the argument he had expected her to take. How was he being unfair?

"You aren't actually worried about those things. You aren't and there's no use pretending that you suddenly are. Rationally, neither of us should be worried about it, but the human mind can be very irrational at times." She muttered, quickly washing her brush and returning it to her stand.

"You are trying to guilt me into something because you think it's fair. T-That..." Hermione said hastily as she watched him open her mouth to respond to her through the mirror. "That's exactly what you're doing Harry. You might enjoy it, but at this very moment you want to do it because you think it's the right thing to do. And just because you think my concerns are irrational and unfounded, you're trying to guilt me into a decision that I don't want to make. All I wanted to do to make this night perfect was cuddles while you read a couple of pages from Lord of the Rings before I fell asleep." Hermione murmured, turning to look at him, her mood deflated. So much for the warm fuzzy feeling. It looked like it was to be a cold night for her, ripped away from her comfort. "It's been an exhausting day, and I really want to curl up in bed, but we need to finish this discussion. We promised each other that we'd never go to bed upset, and I intend to keep that promise. So please, listen." She murmured, sighing and hoping he wouldn't interrupt her.

It felt like school all over again, helping him understand something his brain just wasn't wired to see. All his life he had been raised on a paradigm of reward and punishment, give and take. He thought he had to do something for her just because she had done something nice for him. That was how the Dursleys had raised him, and it broke her heart a little that he had never experienced unconditional actions before she and Ron came into his life. That was why she wasn't angry or upset with him. Just disappointed. Disappointed that she was pulled out of the warmth of subspace, that the screwups of adults meant that she had to spend the night cold and bereft of a happiness she had achieved after a very long time.

"Okay. I'm listening." Harry murmured, leaning against the skin with his arms crossed over his chest but staying silent. He had an idea that the discussion they were going to have was as a couple, not as a dominant and a submissive. He had no idea where she was going with the topic, but if he had learnt something in their long years together, it was always to listen and listen well when Hermione Granger got serious.

"Harry, I can do something for you without expecting something in return. It's hard to wrap your head around it, I know, but it's true." Hermione said softly, gently pulling his arms free and threading her fingers with his. "All your friends will do things for you without expecting something in return, but that is especially true for me. Not just in the bedroom, but also in life. Our relationship isn't transactional Harry. You don't need to do something for me just because of something I did. Okay?"

"I know I don't have to. I want to." Harry protested, looking down at their linked hands. A perfect fit. Yin and Yang.

"You want to because you were raised that way Harry. And that makes you an amazing boyfriend most of the times, but sometimes it means you don't know when to drop something. Please. When I saw I'm happy to do things without expecting in return, I mean it. And it's not some selfless sacrifice on my part. You do so many little things for me without expecting something in return and I love you for it. I'm just saying that you need to believe that I am happy to do the same for you." She whispered, looking at him with big brown eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'll keep that in mind for the future, but it will take some getting used to." Harry admitted softly, sighing as he finally got an inkling of what she was trying to say, "So you will have to be patient with me."

Hermione as the man pulled her into his chest, a flicker of the warmth that had disappeared returning. He shouldn't have been made so damn adorable and understanding, she thought as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, it made it very difficult for her to be grumpy. "I ask the same of you Harry. All my life, I've had horrible body image issues. The ridicule I faced in school, where even one of my professors joined in on the mocking... Well, it didn't really help matters." Hermione admitted softly. Understatement of the year. The mocking and the jokes had destroyed her self-esteem. "I know you think I'm gorgeous, but you calling me sexy won't mean anything to my brain until I can convince myself that what you're saying is actually true. That takes time Harry. I wear dresses now. I actually like lingerie. All of this is new and very scary to the bushy-haired bookworm who has never thought of herself as beautiful."

"I think I understand. Not completely, but I have an idea about what you're trying to tell me. How can I help?"

"Just keep being your amazing self. Try to understand why I sometimes seem so hesitant to try certain things. That's all I ask of you, and you're doing an amazing job with it. But the hardest fight is the one that I have to fight on my own. You can't help me with that Harry, I'm sorry. But I promise you, I will win." She whispered, turning to place a kiss to his cheek. "Can we please go to bed? I'm exhausted." She whispered, taking his hand once more and gently tugging him out of the bathroom.

The girl shivered as the draft of cold air hit her skin when she unwrapped the towel from around her and tossed it onto a chair. She quickly moved to grab her wand from the nightstand on her side of the bed, whispering quick cleaning charms to clean up the mess they had left behind. The night seemed to mirror her mood, and she had no intention of staying away from the warmth of her blankets and her boyfriend for any longer than was necessary.

She gave Harry a small smile as she burrowed into his side and left him drop the heavy blanket on top of their naked bodies, the girl closing her eyes and pushing her head up on his chest, trying to concentrate on his heartbeat and nothing else. Counting his heartbeats was her version of counting sheep, and it was both very soothing and highly effective.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize Harry. We both have issues, and I'm just glad that I have you and you have me. We'll pull through. There never was a fight we couldn't win together." She whispered, placing a kiss to his chest. They would win. They hadn't let Voldemort get between them; they wouldn't let this either.

"Rest for now Harry Potter. We'll wake up and fight like hell. Like we always have."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things have been tough for everyone all around the world for one reason or another. My heart goes out for each and every one of you. 
> 
> And remember, Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, when one remembers to turn on the light. Be the light in someone's life. Be kind, love all, and peace!


End file.
